Reading the House of Hades
by vickydd
Summary: If Hazel Levesque could have chosen any other time to be transported into the middle of a war game, she would have. Dear Camp Half Blood, I have sent you a book about the seven's adventures. This is mainly so that I am in their good fortunes. The gods will be joining you shortly. Make sure the demigods don't spoil the book, thank you. With best wishes, - Hera Please R
1. Tartarus

**Damn it, I told myself I wasn't going to do this. -_- But I just can't. Seriously. I need to! So, let me present: Reading the House of Hades**

**Kill me now.**

**Disclaimer: I know what the strict and old people on this site are gonna say "Delete this before I report you!" Well, piss off. I don't own Pjo or anything in bold.**

* * *

If Hazel Levesque could have chosen any other time to be transported into the middle of a war game, she would have.

* * *

Camp Half Blood was restless.

Chiron had ordered an ASAP counselor meeting in the middle of capture the flag almost as soon as Rachel Elizabeth Dare and Grover Underwood returned to camp. The game continued but the head counselors were all missing. Rachel, as usual, was a bit late to arrive. When she did, she couldn't keep a small accomplished smile off her face.

"Chiron, they accepted the request. Their Praetor, Reyna, is on her way as we speak." She said.

Chiron smiled for what seemed like the first time in ages. "That is wonderful child, now sit. We have much to discuss."

The counselors all looked confused – most especially Thalia, who had been informed that she was needed in camp immediately for the meeting.

"What request?" asked Clarisse. The others all looked like they agreed.

Chiron became very serious. "What I am about to inform you, is classified information that will not, in any way, be told to the rest of the camp. Only Rachel, Grover, and myself have been told. Understood? You shall all swear on the Styx before we continue."

Butch was the first to respond, "I swear on the River Styx not to repeat the following information to anyone who doesn't already know or is allowed to know."

The rest continued, Drew, Miranda, Clarisse, Lou Ellen, Malcolm, Clovis (after a kick in the shin), Travis, Will, Jake, and Thalia.

Rachel took a deep breath before starting. "Well, two days ago during breakfast, Connor Stoll came running to the big house to give me a note," she took out a paper napkin with bronze ink on it. "This note was from Annabeth."

Most of the campers gasped. Thalia looked at Rachel as if affirming a dream and Rachel nodded subtly.

"And? What's wrong with Annabeth?" Clarisse asked rudely, her worry for her friend making her temperamental.

Rachel took another deep breath. "A lot actually," she muttered under her breath. "Um, according to this note, Annabeth has managed to find the Athena Parthenon."

More gasps filled the room but Rachel didn't give herself any more time to chicken out. "In the process, Percy and Annabeth have fallen – fallen into . . . into Tartarus."

The temperature dropped just because of the name. Most counselors' eyes widened and their mouths abruptly dropped open.

"Let me see the note." Thalia held out her hand and said in a demanding, empty voice.

"It's true, then?" Travis asked nobody in particular. They looked at him curiously.

"Connor had a dream. I didn't think it meant anything but he told me about it. He said that he saw Percy and Annabeth in what looked like the underworld but there was a shrine to Hermes. He saw a big _something_ moving in the background and Annabeth asking Percy if he could write with Riptide. The last thing he saw was Annabeth burning something. He also said the entire thing felt like a call without good reception – fuzzy and clouded."

"Connor saw Annabeth writing the note. Travis, you are allowed to tell Connor about their situation." Chiron told the uncertain boy.

Just then, Connor ran inside with a dark skinned and hurt girl in his arms.

"Chiron! She – she just appeared in the creek! We didn't do anything! She took one look at me and collapsed!"

"This appeared with her!" Katie ran into the room with a small brown package in her hands. They both looked panicked.

The girl made a whimpering sound. "Where am I?"

Chiron stood up and walked towards the girl. "You are in Camp Half-Blood, child of Rome."

* * *

"A couple broken ribs, her shoulder's dislocated and she has a concussion. Other than that, we've fixed her up. When she wakes up we'll give her some nectar." Will Solace told Chiron.

"Does anybody know who she is?" Grover asked, nervously chewing on the sleeve of his shirt.

"A-zel…my name is Hazel Levesque," Hazel opened her eyes and blinked uncertainly.

"Well, Hazel, how did you get here? Who are you and who sent you?" Clarisse roughly asked the girl.

"Patience Clarisse. Let the girl breathe." Chiron said.

Hazel sat up and ignored the sting in her ribs. She looked around and found herself in a infirmary of some sorts.

"Here, Hazel, drink this." Lou Ellen gave Hazel a cup of golden liquid that looked like apple juice.

"Nectar… I don't know how I got here," Hazel told them. "I'm a daughter of Pluto and I-I'm pretty sure I should be in Greece right about now."

They looked at her uncertainly. Connor was the first to break the silence, "Are you one of the seven?"

She nodded. Rachel sat on the side of Hazel's bed. "Do you remember the last thing that happened?"

Hazel thought back and it suddenly came to her. "Leo! I left him there! I need to go back, Percy and Annabeth, Frank, Nico! They need my help!"

The people present all stared at her curiously and worried. Before Hazel could stand up Rachel held her down and passed her a note. "Read it."

"Who are you?" Hazel asked before taking the note.

"The Oracle of Delphi, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, at your service." Rachel responded. Hazel nodded before opening the note.

_Dear Hazel Levesque,_

_Do not fret about your friends. They are perfectly safe and frozen just how you left them._

- _Hera_

_Dear Camp Half Blood,_

_I have sent you a book about the seven's adventures. This is mainly so that I am in their good fortunes. Read the book, don't hurt the demigods, and don't pester for information. The gods will be joining you shortly. Don't worry, they are from August 18__th__, last year. Others will also join you in order of the book's wishes._

- _Hera_

_Dear Chiron,_

_Make sure the demigods don't spoil the book, thank you._

_With best wishes,_

- _Hera _

"Is she serious?" Hazel said as soon as she finished the note.

"Supposedly so, Hazel Levesque. This is the book and we would be honored if you were to read first, child." Chiron told Hazel. Hazel just nodded numbly. She couldn't believe this was happening.

"And the gods?"

"They are pacing in the room next door." Rachel interfered, slightly annoyed.

"Ok, let's do this."

* * *

The entire camp had gathered in the rec room of the big house, all cooped up for story time. The gods sat in chairs by the left wall and Hazel sat on a purple sofa near the right wall.

The gods present included the Olympians, Hades, and Hestia. All the campers were present. It was around 9 AM and you could hear the sound of birds chirping outside.

**Hazel I**

**And that's the first chap. If someone can guess the order of appearance for the seven they get to see the next chap first =)**

**Please Review! I'll update within 10 and be warned, it will take a while.**


	2. Hazel I

**Ten reviews, as promised. Updates WILL NOT usually be this fast. Like, ever again.**

**Disclaimer: I know what the strict and old people on this site are gonna say "Delete this before I report you!" Well, piss off. I don't own Pjo or anything in bold. **

* * *

**During the third attack, Hazel almost ate a boulder.**

"That's always fun." Connor tried to break the morbid silence.

**She was peering into the fog, wondering how it could be so difficult to fly across one stupid mountain range, when the ship's alarm bells sounded. **

**"Hard to port!" Nico yelled from the foremast of the flying ship.**

"What is my son doing with them?" Hades asked Hazel, looking at her with slight recognition.

"We saved him from Gaea. He's leading us to the Doors of Death." Hazel told him, avoiding eye contact.

"Why are you going to the doors of Death?" Zeus asked, certainly not happy that information was being held from him.

"Reasons, my lord." Hazel had been told not to spoil the book for the campers or the gods for that matter.

**Back at the helm, Leo yanked the wheel. The Argo II veered left, it's aerial oars slashing through clouds like rows of knives.**

"Cool," a daughter of Apollo said. Apollo gave her a wink.

**Hazel made the mistake of looking over the rail. A dark spherical shape hurtled towards her. She thought: ****_Why is the moon coming at us? _**

Some chuckles were heard but the environment still felt sullen.

**Then she yelped and hit the deck. The huge rock passed so close overhead it blew her hair out of her face.**

**_CRACK!_**

**The foremast had collapsed – sail, spars, and Nico all crashing onto the deck.**

"That might be a problem." Jake wanted to scratch his eyes out. _Do you know how hard it is to make one of those? _

"Leo fixed it." Hazel said protectively. It was so strange to read her thoughts out loud.

**The boulder, roughly the size of a pick up truck, tumbled off into the fog like it had important business elsewhere.**

**"Nico!" Hazel scrambled over him as Leo brought the ship level. **

**"I'm fine," Nico muttered, kicking folds of canvas off his legs. **

**She helped him up, and they stumbled to the bow. Hazel peeked over more carefully this time. The clouds parted just long enough to reveal the top of the mountain below them: a spearhead of black rock jutting from mossy green slopes. Standing at the summit was a mountain god – one of the numina montanum, Jason called them. Or ourae, in Greek. Whatever you called them, they were nasty.**

"Probably. Aren't they children of Gaea?" Malcolm just nodded, ignoring the looks and stares of the campers.

**Like the others they had faced, this one wore a simple white tunic over skin as rough and dark as basalt. He was about twenty feet tall and extremely muscular, with a flowing white beard, scraggly hair, and a wild look in his eyes, like a crazy hermit.**

"Or Zeus on steroids." Thalia muttered under her breath. Hera heard and sent her a smile. Thalia's good mood suddenly disappeared.

**He bellowed something Hazel didn't understand, but it obviously wasn't welcoming. With his bare hands, he pried another chunk of rock from his mountain and began shaping it into a ball.**

"Nasty is right." Grover bleated, feeling nervous from the emotions coming off Hazel.

**"Stupid rock gods!" Leo yelled from the helm. "That's the third time I've had to replace the mast! You think they grow on trees?"**

Lou Ellen frowned, "Masts are from trees, aren't they?"

Hazel smiled and nodded, her eyes glinting.

**Nico frowned. "Masts ****_are_**** from trees."**

A couple people laughed while Lou Ellen blushed.

**"That's not the point!" Leo snatched up one of his controls, rigged from a Nintendo Wii stick, and spun it in a circle. A few feet away, a trapdoor opened in the deck. A Celestial bronze cannon rose.**

Hephaestus had a glint in his eye and his children all looked proud. Many wows and That's so cool! were exchanged.

**Hazel just had time to cover her ears before it discharged into the sky, spraying a dozen metal spheres that trailed Greek fire. The spheres grew spikes in midair, like helicopter blades, and hurtled away into the fog. **

"Bad idea, idiot." Clarisse grumbled under her breath.

**A moment later, a series of explosions crackled across the mountains, followed by the outraged roars of mountain gods. **

**"Ha!" Leo yelled.**

Some people laughed at the son of Hephaestus.

**Unfortunately, Hazel guessed, judging from their last two encounters, Leo's newest weapon had only annoyed the numina.**

A couple Nemesis campers snorted. "Got that right."

Hazel tried not to glare at them.

**Another boulder whistled through the air off to their starboard side. **

**Nico yelled, "Get us out of here!" **

"Please do," Thalia said, thinking of her brother.

**Leo muttered some unflattering comments about ****_numina_****, but he turned the wheel. **

"Good," Nyssa said out loud, hoping no more damage would come to the Argo II.

**The engines hummed. Magical rigging lashed itself tight, and the ship tacked to port. The ****_Argo II_**** picked up speed, retreating northwest, as they'd been doing for the past two days.**

"You've spent two days trying to get across Italy?" Miranda asked, trying to decide how Percy and Annabeth were still alive.

Hazel nodded and a light blush came to her cheeks. "We weren't thinking straight. We had a dead line so…"

"Why the deadline?" Katie asked.

"Stuff," was the only thing Hazel said before continuing.

**Hazel didn't relax until they were out of the mountains. The fog cleared. Below them, morning sunlight illuminated the Italian countryside-rolling green hills and golden fields not too different from those in Northern California. **

"Isn't that the location of the Roman camp?" asked Butch.

Hazel almost felt like she was betraying Reyna by telling them this, but she knew it brought no one harm. "Yes, Camp Jupiter is located in San Francisco."

**Hazel could almost imagine she was sailing home to Camp Jupiter. **

**The thought weighed on her chest. Camp Jupiter had only been her home for nine months, since Nico had brought her back from the Underworld.**

"Nico did what?" Thalia asked incredulously. Many of the gods looked like they agreed while Hades was avoiding looks sent his way.

Hazel panicked slightly. This entire camp would know her secret. And Frank's. _If they're anything like Percy, they can be trusted_, she told herself. "I- I was born in 1929."

After about two beats of silence, the ADHD in the demigods shone loud and clear.

"Shouldn't you be an old lady then?" Connor asked.

After a couple of glares and Hazel blushing but not answering, Hestia spoke, "How can this be, child?"

"I died in 1942. Nico led me through the doors of death and left me at Camp Jupiter 9 months ago." She responded.

"Wait a second – Nico knew about both camps? How?" Thalia asked demandingly.

"I don't know." Hazel didn't want to sell her father out in front of the other gods.

**But she missed it more than her birthplace of New Orleans, and ****_definitely_**** more than Alaska, where she'd died back in 1942.**

**She missed her bunk in the Fifth Cohort barracks. She missed dinners in the mess hall, with wind spirits whisking platters through the air and legionnaires joking about the war games. She wanted to wander the streets of New Rome, holding hands with Frank Zhang. **

"Who's that?" asked Lacy from the Aphrodite cabin.

"My boyfriend. One of the seven." Hazel said proudly. She was still waiting for that walk.

"Oh," Lacy said. "How'd you get together?"

Hazel blushed. "We went on a quest with Percy and came back a couple."

Aphrodite winked at Hazel and she pushed away the desire to shudder and kept reading.

**She wanted to experience just being a regular girl for once, with an actual sweet, caring boyfriend. **

Aphrodite smile became wider, "Finally something I can relate too."

Hazel blushed.

"There is _some_ action, right?" Ares asked, looking bored while he armed a hand gun.

"Plenty." Hazel's mood turned sour. Even now they were only entertainment to the gods. Hestia sent her a warm smile and Hazel continued.

**Most of all, she wanted to feel safe. She was tired of being scared and worried all the time. **

Most of the demigods in the room agreed.

**She stood on the quarterdeck as Nico picked mast splinters out of his arms and Leo punched buttons on the ship's console. **

**"Well, ****_that_**** was sucktastic," Leo said. "Should I wake the others?" **

"They slept through that?" Grover asked, surprised. Hazel just continued reading since she wa pretty sure she answered the question in her thoughts.

**Hazel was tempted to say yes, but the other crewmembers had taken the night shift and had earned their rest. They were exhausted from defending the ship. Every few hours, it seemed, some Roman monster had decided the ****_Argo II_**** looked like a tasty treat. **

**A few weeks ago, Hazel wouldn't have believed that anyone could sleep through a ****_numina_**** attack, but now she imagined her friends were still snoring away belowdecks. Whenever ****_she_**** got a chance to crash, she slept like a coma patient. **

"You sound like Percy," Katie said. "I found asleep at least twice in the strawberry fields because of his curse."

Although Hazel's mood darkened, her curiosity shone through, "What curse?"

"He has the Achilles curse, that's why he doesn't get hurt." Thalia said like it should be obvious.

"No, he can definitely get hurt. I saw it myself." Hazel said, amazed that Percy had bathed in the Styx.

"The curse is a Greek blessing, if Percy went into Roman grounds it would've disappeared." Athena spat. Another thing they'd taken from them.

Most of the campers looked down, saddened that their leader was no longer invulnerable.

"Speaking of Perseus, where is he? Belowdecks?" Hestia asked sincerely. Poseidon looked like he agreed.

Hazel immediately flinched. "You'll know soon enough, don't worry."

Nobody failed to notice the way her mood darkened.

**"They need rest," she said. "We'll have to figure out another way on our own." **

**"Huh." Leo scowled at his monitor. In his tattered work shirt and grease-splattered jeans, he looked like he'd just lost a wrestling match with a locomotive. **

"Basically how he always looks?" said Drew in a rude voice.

Hazel glared at her and the golden jewelry Drew was wearing turned hot."Ow!"

Drew ripped off her necklace.

"Watch what you say about my friends." Hazel said before looking back at the book. The camp stared in awe while Drew looked furious.

**Ever since** –

Hazel looked at the next line and almost feinted. She eyed Chiron and shook her head slightly. "I- I cant read this. Please."

Hestia sat next to Hazel and looked over the poor girl's shoulder.

"Oh dear," Hestia's hand went to her mouth.

"What is it, sister?" Poseidon asked.

After about a minute of eye contact, in which the camp looked from god to god worryingly, Poseidon stood up and hurried to Hestia and Hazel's side. Athena came too.

"No."

Thunder struck loudly and you could hear the waves crashing on Long Island Sound.

Zeus quickly became annoyed at the behavior of his siblings. "What is this all about, Athena?"

Athena's eyes looked more murderous and stormier than ever. "Annabeth Chase and Perseus Jackson have fallen into Tartarus."

Silence. Dropped jaws, silent no's, unintelligent murmurings, and Hazel had enough.

"Don't you dare ask me how because I won't answer. Percy and Annabeth are brave, if you give up on them, you don't believe they can make it. I do, and I know that we'll save them."

Hazel now only addressed the gods. "As a matter of fact, it's completely unjust for any of you to feel anything but guilt, because it's your fault they are where they are in the first place. Just be happy that Annabeth and Percy have each other down there."

Hazel stormed out of the room to find a place where she could cry in peace.

The gods were silent, trying to process what the girl said without paying attention to the disrespect, which to them, was incredibly and irritatingly hard.

The camp erupted into whispers and some sobs. Rachel and Thalia glanced at each other before both leaving to find Hazel.

* * *

In the end, they found Hazel in the Poseidon cabin. She was sobbing hysterically and the first thing Rachel did was hug the young girl. She was only thirteen. Too young for all of this. Way too young to save the world.

Thalia patted Hazel on the back after Rachel and Hazel parted. "Shh…it's ok. I know they're ok. It's fine. Annabeth sent us a note, look, do you want to see it?"

Hazel looked up at Thalia and nodded through the tears. She was handed the napkin and she stopped crying while she read.

Without saying anything, Hazel handed back the note and wiped her eyes.

Rachel looked her in the eyes, "Are you ok?"

"Yes," Hazel choked out a laugh, "But I'm not reading. Saying my own name is just too weird."

"Good. I'll read, ok?" Thalia promised her, and Hazel looked into _Jason_'s eyes.

"Ok."

* * *

Thalia quieted everyone like this: "Shut the Hades up! Um, no offense Uncle Hades."

Hades sent her a cold look that Thalia took as a smile. With the attention on her, she continued, "I will read the rest of this chapter, got it punks? And lords?"

Everyone nodded and sent small smiles at her. Thalia began to read.

**Ever since their friends Percy and Annabeth had fallen into Tartarus, Leo had been working almost nonstop. He'd been acting angrier and even more driven than usual.**

No one had the heart to comment and Thalia didn't leave them time to either.

**Hazel worried about him. But part of her was relieved by the change. Whenever Leo smiled and joked, he looked ****_too_**** much like Sammy, is great-grandfather...Hazel's first boyfriend back in 1942. **

Hazel sent a small glare at Aphrodite as the entirety of the camp looked at her.

"That's…something." Travis summoned it up as the demigods nodded at him.

**Ugh, why did her life have to be so complicated? **

Nobody commented once they saw Hazel look down sadly.

**"Another way," Leo muttered. "Do you see one?" **

"Take a route north and around the mountains." Athena suggested and Hazel decided that Annabeth was way to much like her mother.

**On his monitor glowed a map of Italy. The Apennine Mountains ran down the middle of the boot-shaped country. A green dot for the ****_Argo II_**** blinked on the western side of the range, a few hundred miles north of Rome. Their path should have been simple. They needed to get to a place called Epirus in Greece and find an old temple called the House of Hades (or Pluto, as the Romans called him; or as Hazel liked to think of him: the World's Worst Absent Father). **

An awkward silence where some demigods including Thalia chuckled as Hazel avoided eye contact with her dad.

**To reach Epirus, all they had to do was go straight east-over the Apennines and across the Adriatic Sea. But it hadn't worked out that way. Each time they tried to cross the spine of Italy, the mountain gods attacked. **

"Do you guys ever get a break?" Apollo asked.

Hazel didn't need to answer since most of the demigods in the room answered for her. "No."

**For the past two days they'd skirted north, hoping to find a safe pass, with no luck. The ****_numina montanum_**** were sons of Gaea, Hazel's least favorite goddess. **

"Agreed." Thalia and Rachel both muttered. Thalia added Hera as an afterthought.

**That made them ****_very_**** determined enemies. The ****_Argo II_**** couldn't fly high enough to avoid their attacks; and even with all its defenses, the ship couldn't make it across the range without being smashed to pieces. **

"No piece smashing, please." Jake pleaded. Nobody minded to tell him he was talking to a book.

**"It's our fault," Hazel said. "Nico and mine. The ****_numina_**** can sense us." **

**She glanced at her half brother. Since they'd rescued him from the giants, he'd started to regain his strength, but he was still painfully thin. His black shirt and jeans hung off his skeletal frame. Long, dark hair framed his sunken eyes. His olive complexion had turned a sickly greenish-white, like the color of tree sap. **

"What the Hades happened to Death Breath?" Thalia asked what most of the camp was thinking.

"He went looking for the Doors of Death in Tartarus and got captured by Gaea. Percy, Jason, and Piper rescued him from the giants in Rome." Hazel stated monotonously. Nobody had the heart to respond.

**In human years, he was barely fourteen, just a year older than Hazel; but that didn't tell the whole story. Like Hazel, Nico di Angelo was a demigod from another era. He radiated a kind of ****_old_**** energy-a melancholy that came from knowing he didn't belong in the modern world. **

**Hazel hadn't known him very long, but she understood, even shared his sadness. The children of Hades (Pluto-whichever) rarely had happy lives. **

Almost everyone looked sullen by now.

**And judging from what Nico had told her the night before, their biggest challenge was yet to come when they reached the House of Hades- a challenge he'd implored her to keep secret from the others. **

"I'm guessing you won't tell us what it is?" Chris pleaded.

"You've guessed right."

**Nico gripped the hilt of his Stygian iron sword. "Earth spirits don't like children of the Underworld. That's true. We get under their skin-****_literally_****. But I think the ****_numina_**** could sense this ship anyway. We're carrying the Athena Parthenos. That thing is like a magical beacon."**

"She found it?" Athena's eyes were as wide as an owl's. The rest of the camp looked confused – Athena cabin not included.

"Yes. All by herself." Hazel nodded. Thalia's grin widened and Grover looked like he wanted to plant one million trees for his friend.

**Hazel shivered, thinking of the massive statue that took up most of the hold. They'd sacrificed so much, saving it from the cavern under Rome; but they had no idea what to do with it. So far the only thing it seemed to be good for was alerting more monsters to their presence. **

"Be patient child, it doesn't work like that." Athena explained. Hazel nodded, having read Annabeth's note.

**Leo traced his finger down the map of Italy. "So crossing the mountains is out. Thing is, they go a long way in either direction." **

**"We could go by sea," Hazel suggested. "Sail around the southern tip of Italy." **

**"That's a long way," Nico said. "Plus, we don't have..." **

"Prissy." Clarisse stated.

**His voice cracked. "You know...our sea expert, Percy." **

**The name hung in the air like an impending storm. **

The waves at the fireworks beach were slapping the sand loudly.

**Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon...probably the demigod Hazel admired the most.**

"Kelp Face has his perks." Thalia agreed? Hazel wasn't sure.

** He'd saved her life so many times on their quest to Alaska; but when he had needed Hazel's help in Rome, she'd failed him. She'd watched, powerless, as he and Annabeth had plunged into that pit... **

You could probably hear a pin drop if it wasn't for the storm blooming outside.

**Hazel took a deep breath. Percy and Annabeth were still alive. **

"Hades they are." Thalia agreed.

**She knew that in her heart. She could ****_still _****help them if she could get to the House of Hades, if she could survive the challenge Nico had warned her about...**

"And now?" Chris hoped.

"No." Hazel smiled sadly.

**"What about continuing north?" she asked. "There ****_has_**** to be a break in the mountains, or something." **

**Leo fiddled with the bronze Archimedes sphere that he'd installed on the console-his newest and most dangerous toy. **

"He found the sphere? How did he unlock it?" Hephaestus asked Hazel proudly.

"Nemesis gave him a fortune cookie with the password. Sadly, Leo believes Percy and Annabeth were the price."

It seemed like nothing could bring their mood up today.

**Every time Hazel looked at the thing, her mouth went dry. She worried that Leo would turn the wrong combination on the sphere and accidentally eject them all from the deck, or blow up the ship, or turn the ****_Argo II_**** into a giant toaster.**

Laughter was heard before the next clap of thunder silenced it.

**Fortunately, they got lucky. The sphere grew a camera lens and projected a 3D image of the Apennine Mountains above the console. **

The Hephaestus cabin and their dad were all smiling widely.

**"I dunno." Leo examined the holograph. "I don't see any good passes to the north. But I like the idea better than backtracking south. I'm done with Rome." **

**No one argued with that. Rome had not been a good experience. **

"So we've heard…" Rachel said tiredly.

**"Whatever we do," Nico said, "we have to hurry. Every day that Annabeth and Percy are in Tartarus..." **

The waves grew louder and Poseidon looked menacingly scary.

**He didn't need to finish. They had to hope Percy and Annabeth could survive long enough to find the Tartarus side of the Doors of Death. Then, assuming the ****_Argo II_**** could reach the House of Hades, they ****_might_**** be able to open the doors on the mortal side, save their friends, and seal the entrance, stopping Gaea's forces from being reincarnated in the mortal world, over and over. **

**Yes...nothing could go wrong with ****_that_**** plan. **

Thalia didn't pause to even breathe through it all before continuing.

**Nico scowled at the Italian countryside below them. "Maybe we ****_should_**** wake the others. The decision affects us all." **

**"No," Hazel said. "We can find a solution." **

Most looked at Hazel questioningly but she just nodded to Thalia.

**She wasn't sure why she felt strongly about it, but since leaving Rome, the crew had started to lose its cohesion. They'd been learning to work as a team. Then ****_bam_****...their two most important members fell into Tartarus. Percy had been their backbone. He'd given them confidence as they sailed across the Atlantic and into the Mediterranean. As for Annabeth-she'd been the de facto leader of the quest. She'd recovered the Athena Parthenos single-handedly. She was the smartest of the seven, the one with the answers. **

Thalia's voice was trying hard not to crack while everyone looked down in respect for their leaders. The gods stayed silent, quietly trying to stop Poseidon's damage.

**If Hazel woke up the rest of the crew every time they had a problem, they'd just start arguing again, feeling more and more hopeless. **

Athena almost said something but Artemis shook her head, shutting the goddess up effectively.

**She had to make Percy and Annabeth proud of her. She had to take the initiative. She couldn't believe her only role in this quest would be what Nico had warned her of-removing the obstacle waiting for them in the House of Hades. She pushed the thought aside. **

"No." Hazel said before Chris could even open his mouth. Connor and Travis laughed.

**"We need some creative thinking," she said. "Another way to cross those mountains, or a way to hide ourselves from the ****_numina._****"**

**Nico sighed. "If I was on my own, I could shadow-travel. But that won't work for an entire ship. And honestly, I'm not sure I have the strength to even transport ****_myself_**** anymore." **

"WOOOF!"

Everyone jumped as Mrs. O'Leary stuck her head through the door.

"Hey girl," Butch stood up and sat next to the door, getting a slime bath. Thalia smiled, then continued.

**"I could maybe rig some kind of camouflage," Leo said, "like a smoke screen to hide us in the clouds." He didn't sound very enthusiastic. **

"He's gonna over exert himself soon, that boy is." Hera laughed. Most of the demigods didn't find it very funny and Hera was left to an awkward silence before Thalia began once again.

**Hazel stared down at the rolling farmland, thinking about what lay beneath it-the realm of her father, lord of the Underworld. She'd only met Pluto once, and she hadn't realized who he was. She certainly had never expected help from him-not when she was alive the first time, not during her time as a spirit in the Underworld, not since Nico had brought her back to the world of the living. **

**Her dad's servant Thanatos, god of death, had suggested that Pluto might be doing Hazel a favor by ignoring her. After all, she wasn't supposed to be alive. If Pluto took notice of her, he might have to return her to the land of the dead. **

Hades and Hazel met eye contact and _Pluto_ actually smiled at her. A warm, proud smile. Nobody seemed to notice the small personality disorder. He was back to Hades in a moment, anyway.

**Which meant calling on Pluto would be a very bad idea. **

"Indeed," Artemis agreed.

**And yet... **

**_Please, Dad,_**** she found herself praying. ****_I_**** have ****_to find a way to your temple in Greece-the House of Hades. If you're down there, show me what to do._**

**At the edge of the horizon, a flicker of movement caught her eye-something small and beige racing across the fields at incredible speed, leaving a vapor trail like a plane's. **

"What's that?" Connor asked.

"Is it a plane? Is it a frog?" Travis continued.

"Is it a bird? Is it blonde Superman?" Chris finished. Thalia chuckled.

"It's a horse." Hazel stated, hiding a smile.

**Hazel couldn't believe it. She didn't dare hope, but it ****_had_**** to be..."Arion." **

**"What?" Nico asked. **

"My thought exactly." Ellen Lou stated.

**Leo let out a happy whoop as the dust cloud got closer. **

**"It's her horse, man! You missed that whole part. We haven't seen him since Kansas!" **

"When did you go to Kansas?" Grover asked, looking at Hazel like she'd eaten a bug.

"When Percy and Jason tried to kill each other." Hazel hadn't had fun in days, why not?

"What?" Thalia exclaimed. Chiron looked like he expected this to happen while Poseidon and Zeus glared at each other. Hazel laughed, though at the time it hadn't seemed very funny.

"Oh, don't worry, you can blame Gaea. She sent eidolons to control them."

After a small silence filled by Hazel's chuckling, Travis snorted. "Not cool, dude."

"Who won?" an Ares camper asked.

"Blackjack the Pegasus. He knocked Percy out before he could skewer Jason. But Piper's the one who was there, not me. Ask her later."

**Hazel laughed-the first time she'd laughed in days. It felt so good to see her old friend. **

Most of the demigods who were in the war knew the feeling.

**About a mile to the north, the small beige dot circled a hill and stopped at the summit. He was difficult to make out, but when the horse reared and whinnied, the sound carried all the way to the ****_Argo II_****. Hazel had no doubt-it was Arion. **

**"We have to meet him," she said. "He's here to help." **

**"Yeah, okay." Leo scratched his head. "But, uh, we talked about not landing the ship on the ground anymore, remember? You know, with Gaea wanting to destroy us, and all."**

"Yeah, let's not forget about that." Chris sarcastically glared at the book.

**"Just get me close, and I'll use the rope ladder." Hazel's heart was pounding. "I think Arion wants to tell me something." **

"That's the end of the chap. Wow, my throat hurts. **(Translation: my hands hurt, a lot.)**" Thalia stood up and stretched. "Who's next?"

"I'll read," offered Hestia.

Thalia handed her the book and looked towards Hazel, "All the chapters aren't that dramatic, right?"

"I don't think so…If Percy and Annabeth are in there, I don't even want to think about it." Hazel told Thalia, and only Thalia.

"Well, bathroom breaks everyone. Be back in ten." Rachel called out. As everyone shuffled out, those who were left included Hazel, Rachel, Grover, Clarisse, Chiron, and the gods.

A bright flash of light illuminated the room.

"Percy!"

**Yes, I know, kill me for it, but I'm evil. ** _**1**_**_5 reviews till I update_****.**** Since I'm new at this, I feel like the chap severely sucked. Please tell me how I did and give me advice. Next update will most likely be in either one or two weeks. Weekends are my only time to write and it's usually very late so please excuse any grammatical and spelling errors, if you've read my other stories you'll know I'm usually ok with all of that.**

**Please Review**

**-Vickydd**


	3. Hazel II

**Hello again… well, I updated didn't i? haha…sorry? Thankyou! I read evry single one of your reviews and they were all jus amazing! I would respond to everyone of them but then I'd only update next week! So, sorry! I got 112 reviews….wow. Thankyou so much! I'm sorry for being 3 weeks late… haha. **

**Disclaimer: I know what the strict and old people on this site are gonna say "Delete this before I report you!" Well, piss off. I don't own Pjo or anything in bold.**

"Percy! Why did you leave me? No!"

Annabeth Chase stood in the middle of the rec room. She had her hands out in front of her, her shirt was only covering the necessary parts, her denim jeans were now ripped to shreds, and worst of all… her grey eyes were glazed with blindness.

"…Annabeth," Grover whispered.

Everyone was too stunned to move.

"Percy! Please!" Annabeth fell to her knees and almost fell over, but Thalia was there to catch her fall.

"Apollo! Please, help her!" Thalia almost sobbed.

Apollo was frozen for a moment before kneeling down next to the girls and lying Annabeth down.

"Percy…Where are you? Please…" Annabeth coughed while her body shook with sobs.

"Shh… Annabeth, its Thalia. You're ok, you're ok." Thalia repeated over and over as Apollo lowered his hands to her eyes and muttered in ancient Greek.

"Aphrodite, do something about this curse." Apollo said before returning to heal Annabeth.

"Percy…" Annabeth whispered.

"Oh, gods. Retched girl," Hazel almost thought Aphrodite was talking about Annabeth but didn't say anything. Aphrodite placed her hand over Annabeth's heart and Annabeth glowed with a pinkish hue.

"…Percy," Apollo removed his hands and Annabeth's eyes fluttered open.

Annabeth screamed and immediately tried to stand up, tripping over her own ankle and falling back down. Her grey eyes scanned the room.

"Thalia…? Hazel…? Grover…? Mom..? What – where – Percy… Percy! Where's Percy?" Annabeth panicked. She could feel her heart pounding through her ears.

Apollo put a hand to Annabeth's temple and Annabeth collapsed like a rock.

"She needs her beauty sleep, that one. Dionysus, if you will. Hermes, a tranquilizer would be nice. The girl's in shock. And a bad case of PTSD."

"What's that?" asked Grover, standing right next to Thalia. Hazel was behind them, feeling like she might puke.

"Post Dramatic Stress Disorder. Just give her some good sleep. Athena, if you could move her to the infirmary, our 10 minutes are up." Apollo answered, and Grover couldn't believe how responsible Apollo could actually be.

Athena nodded and as she looked at her daughter, they both disappeared, only Athena returning.

"Take your seat, I will sound the conch horn. We will continue reading as if this never happened. She will awake in the night. Hopefully, Percy will soon follow her." Chiron told the remaining teenagers. Thalia looked like she wanted to argue, Grover wanted to cry, Rachel looked like she didn't like what she was seeing and Hazel wasn't exactly too different from Grover.

"Yes Chiron." Rachel was the first to respond, as she took a Thalia's arm and led the grief stricken girl to the couch.

Hestia removed her hand from her mouth and picked up the book, which she had dropped in the commotion.

"Aphrodite, what had been wrong with the girl?" Poseidon asked his… relative?

Aphrodite looked out of breath and terrified. "She had a meeting with the _Arai_. They both did. Calypso blamed her for our mistakes."

"But . . . Do you have any idea how many curses my son has upon him?" Poseidon looked even worse than Thalia.

"Oh, don't worry, he should have enough sense not to kill them." Zeus said as if it was an obvious answer.

Poseidon looked outraged. "And how do you suppose he will get away from them alive? His Curse is no longer existent."

"That is for him to achieve. Now, Chiron, sound the horn."

-line break-

Hestia picked up the book and used her powers to give hope to all of those in the room. Pity she couldn't do it to herself.

**Hazel II**

"The entire book can't be in my point of view, can it?" The campers were confused as to why Hazel had looked so pale, but figured this was why.

"I do not believe so, child of Pluto." Athena responded.

**Hazel had never felt so happy. **

Hazel frowned at the irony.

**Well, except for maybe the night of the victory feast at Camp Jupiter, when she'd kissed Frank for the first time. . . **

Hazel blushed as people cat called and smiled at her.

"How long have you two been together?" Lacy asked her kindly.

Hazel forced a smile and responded. "The end of June, I think."

"That's sweet."

**But this was a close second. **

"Of course it was, you no longer feel useless." Thalia said, glaring at the ground as if she's felt the same.

**As soon as she reached the ground, she ran to Arion and threw her arms around him. "I missed you!"**

**She pressed her face into the horse's warm neck, which smelled of sea salt and apples. "Where have you been?"**

"How'd you get the horse?" Jake asked, curious.

"Percy, Frank, and I sort've stole him from the Amazons in Seattle." Hazel heart compressed tightly in her chest. If anybody asked her another question, she might just start bawling.

**Arion knickered. Hazel wished she could speak Horse like Percy could, but she got the general idea. **

"Percy speaks horse? Since when?" Clarisse asked, looking slightly annoyed at the kelp heads many talents.

"It comes as a power in my reign, as I created the horse." Poseidon cleared his throat, still looking very upset.

**Arion sounded impatient, as if saying, ****_No time for sentiment, girl! Come on!_**

Grover sniffed/snorted. "Sounds like Hedge."

**"You want me to go with you?" she guessed.**

**Arion bobbed his head, trotting in place. His dark brown eyes gleamed with urgency.**

"Is the horse Russian, Hazel?" Connor smiled.

Miranda stared blankly as a burst of laughter from the crowd of demigods was heard and abruptly ended. "That has to be the worst pun in the book, shut up Connor."

**Hazel still couldn't believe he was actually here. He could run across any surface, even the sea; **

"I want that horse." Clarisse muttered.

"It's like a machine!" Nyssa murmured quietly.

**but she'd been afraid he wouldn't follow them into the ancient lands. The Mediterranean was too dangerous for demigods and their allies.**

"You could say that," Hades silently smirked in dark humor.

**He wouldn't have come unless Hazel was in dire need. And he seemed so agitated . . . . Anything that could make a fearless horse skittish should have terrified Hazel. **

"And it didn't?" Thalia asked the blushing girl.

"Not really. Hehe." Hazel managed a grin.

**Instead, she felt elated. She was ****_so_**** tired of being seasick and airsick. Aboard the Argo II, she felt as useful as a box of ballast. **

"What's that?" Travis asked.

Nobody answered him.

**She was glad to be back on solid ground, even if it ****_was_**** Gaea's territory. She was ready to ride.**

"You sound like Butch." Lou Ellen muttered.

**"Hazel!" Nico called down from the ship. "What's going on?"**

**"It's fine!" She crouched down and summoned a gold nugget from the earth. **

"Hey, can you get me some espresso gold too?" A random camper asked. Hazel just smiled lightly and nodded at Hestia to keep reading.

**She was getting better at controlling her power. Precious metals hardly ever popped up around her by accident anymore, and pulling gold from the ground was easy.**

"Easy, you say?"

Hazel ignored Connor and Travis.

**She fed Arion the nugget . . . his favorite snack.**

"What type of snack is that?" Ares tried to joke.

"Hey!" Grover said without thinking, "gold is actually very good for you! Lots of …iron?"

"Shut up, goat boy." Thalia smiled.

**Then she smiled up at Leo and Nico, who were watching her from the top of the ladder a hundred feet above. **

Thalia shivered.

**"Arion wants to take me somewhere."**

**The boys exchanged nervous looks.**

The gods exchanged nervous looks.

**"Uh . . ." Leo pointed north. "Please tell me he's not taking you into ****_that_****?" **

"That?" Athena inquired.

**Hazel had been so focused on Arion, she hadn't noticed the disturbance. A mile away, on the crest of the next hill, a storm had gathered over some old stone ruins–maybe the remains of a Roman temple or fortress.**

"Why not greek?" Drew said snottily.

"Because were in Rome." Hazel glared at the Aphrodite girl. Thank the gods Venus girls were more composed.

Drew flushed.

** A funnel cloud snaked it's way down toward the hill like an inky black finger.**

**Hazel's mouth tasted like blood. She looked at Arion. "You want to go ****_there_****?"**

"Yeah, why's the horse want to go there? Why not a pretty meadow? Meadows are nice."

**Arion whinnied, as if to say, ****_Uh, duh!_**

"That horse's got spunk." Clarisse grunted.

"Percy wants to wash his mouth with soap, actually." Hazel muttered.

"Oh, you should hear Percy when Blackjack wakes him up at 3 in the morning. He's not so innocent." Clarisse responded, smirking. Poseidon almost smiled, but reminded himself that cussing isn't a good thing.

**Well . . . Hazel had asked for help. Was this her dad's answer?**

"Was it?" Hazel looked up to Hades.

"How should I know? I'm not Apollo." Hades told her, but winked.

**She hoped so, but she sensed something else at work in that storm besides Pluto . . . something dark, powerful, and not necessarily friendly. **

"Yeah, Miss Tragic Magic," Hazel muttered and thought Percy would be proud. Rachel smiled at Hazel, having heard her.

**Still, this was her chance to help her friends–to lead instead of follow.**

"How old are you again Hazel?" Artemis asked, wishing this young girl was single.

"Thirteen," Hazel said proudly. She was sure age made no difference on this quest.

**She tightened the straps of her Imperial gold cavalry sward and climbed onto Arion's back.**

**"I'll be okay!" she called up to Nico and Leo. "Stay put and wait for me."**

**"Wait for how long?" Nico asked. "What if you don't come back?"**

"Please tell me you come back?" Thalia asked the girl.

"I don't know," Hazel raised her eyebrows playfully.

**"Don't worry, I will," she promised, hoping it was true.**

**She spurred Arion, and they shot across the countryside, heading straight for the growing tornado.**

"That is the end of this chapter." Hestia told the demigods.

"Chiron, I believe you have something to tell the demigods?" Zeus looked at Chiron meaningfully.

"Yes, I believe so," Chiron stood up from his wheel chair and walked to where the book was.

"I am somewhat glad to inform that Annabeth Chase arrived an hour ago, while you were at break."

Everyone started talking at once.

"Where is she?"

"Is she okay!?"

"Did Percy come too?"

"Is she alive?"

"Oh my gods."

"Silence!" Zeus had stood up from his semi throne, along with Athena.

"My daughter is alive and in the infirmary. She is resting. No one shall disturb her and I believe that she will be disoriented when she wakes up. Do not question her of what has happened, do not ask her about the son of Poseidon, and do not, by any circumstance, disobey me." Athena glared at every single soul in the room.

Hazel understood what Percy had once told her about Annabeth being scary. Those eyes…

Nobody spoke for a few seconds. That's when the second blast of light showed up.

**So….for the next update… um, most likely I'll try for December at least 3 updates but you'll probably only get 2. My goal is to get to Leo chaps before 2014. Sounds hard…. I watched castching fire today, so thank that for my inspiration, idk why… I'll update wth 50? Doesn't seem like much considering ho much I got. And sorry for another cliffhanger. Haha, u thought it was Percy huh? Nope, Annabeth.**

**BUBI! Love-**

**Vickydd**


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